Immigration Bill Includes DREAM Act, Visa Expansion

Submitted by Libby A. Nelson on April 18, 2013 - 3:00am

WASHINGTON -- An immigration bill unveiled early Wednesday morning by a bipartisan Senate group would provide an expedited pathway to citizenship for young immigrants in the U.S. illegally and expand visas for highly educated workers. The bill -- a compromise among eight Republican and Democratic Senators -- still faces a tough road in Congress, but the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities praised it as an important step.

"It contains many welcomed changes to immigration policy that would go a long way toward advancing both the interests of universities and our nation," M. Peter McPherson, the group's president, said in a statement. “As employers, universities want to be able to hire and retain the most talented researchers and educators throughout the world without having to run into bureaucratic red tape. And as educators, we want to retain our most talented international students and keep them in the U.S. where they can contribute to our economy and strengthen our communities."